Lack of Innovation

In
CDIT Sector.
Abstract
This research paper talks about the innovations in consumer durables industry of India. One
reason which motivated me to write this paper was that I had a hands-on experience in this
sector during my internship and there I felt this need which was missing. The last innovation-
oriented research papers talked about RFID and post that there has been hardly any update. No
doubt the sector is at it’s all time high and profiting through huge revenues but then why has
the innovation become stagnant? Don’t we have the technologies or they don’t exist at all? Is
the Indian market ready to settle with what they have or industry is not able to suffice that
demand? Of course when it comes to technology applications the smart phones, tablets and
food preservations have come way too far but this paper focuses on customer experience and
why more than 1/4 of them are not satisfied and leave the store feeling a miss. A lot of questions
come up when it comes to innovating technologies and this paper attempts to answer a few of
them.

Introduction
What is CDIT?
The consumer durables and IT industry can be categorized into two segments:
Consumer electronics (brown goods) – such as televisions, laptops, cameras, computers, and
audio systems
Consumer appliances (white goods) –washing machines, kitchen appliances, microwave ovens,
cleaning equipment, air conditioners, and fans
About two-thirds of India’s consumer durables are currently sold in urban markets. The most
popular consumer electronics are colour television sets. Electric fans and air conditioners are
popular due to India’s hot climate. Other top consumer durables include refrigerators and
washing machines.
The majority of consumer durables production occurs in Delhi and Uttarakhand in the north,
West Bengal in the east, Tamil Nadu in the south, and Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west.
The CDIT market in India is estimated to have reached Rs 1 trillion (US$ 15.5 billion) in 2017.
The consumer durables/light electricals industry is expected to reach Rs 3 trillion (US$ 46.54
billion) by 2020. India is one of the largest growing electronics markets in the world. Indian
electronics market is expected to grow at 41 per cent CAGR between 2017-20 to reach US$
400 billion. Consumer electronics exports from India reached US$ 385.15 million in FY18 (up
to February 2018). India has the world’s third largest television industry. India’s television
industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.8 per cent over CY16-20. Television industry in
India is estimated to have reached Rs 660 billion (US$ 10.19 billion) in CY2017 and projected
to reach Rs 862 billion (US$ 13.31billion) in CY2020.

Why CDIT?
Even after coming this far in revenues and profits, the functioning or operations of this sector
can be at the most be labelled as boring. Not only the working is tedious and the display
monotonous the whole buying process is exercised by the consumer to scratch of a task from
their to do list rather than a desired experience. From clustered layouts to forced sales the aim
here is to just make a sale and has little or nothing to do with customer experience. With the
sector still at its peak, it can break records if it decides to shift its paradigm and enters the world
of possibilities.

Literature Review
In the research paper, “A study of Consumer Buying Behaviour in Organised Retail Sector.“
author Dr. Irfan Siddique and Dr Ujjawal M Mishra talk about how different factors influence
the buying behaviour of consumers. It takes into consideration the psychology, social
psychology, sociology and economics in an attempt to understand consumer buying behaviour
where it has specifically focused on Samsung brand. The research is concluded with the solid
foundation that consumers are still influenced by their friends and family more than the expert
selling them the product along with more importance given to featured advertisements.

In the research paper, “Consumer Buying Behaviour for Electronic Products. “authors S
Vijayalaxmi and Dr. T Srinivasa Rao talk about various consumer electronics products
available in the market and the increase in state-of-the-art products with the continuous advent
of technology. The paper further talks about the type of consumers, factors which influence
their purchases and Segment profiles based on the mode of payment used. The paper concluded
that despite basic characteristics of consumers the behaviour pattern was more or less similar,
particularly in aspects of quality, preference and decision making. However, it is evident that
the present approaches to draw the attention of the consumers are not adequate and there is a
great need for change.

These two research papers attempted what most papers attempt to do, try to bridge a gap
between the reality and goal of certain industry with subjective facts which keep on changing
along with changing consumer behaviour and their buying patterns. There is a continuous need
to keep on researching on these factors that influence a purchase, as they arrive at a fresh phase
with every new innovation of technology.

In the research paper, “Impact of Green Marketing on Consumer Behaviour in Modern World
“ author Mayukh Thakur talks about green marketing and tries to answer the universal question,
‘How green is the green product?’ The paper also attempts to factor in why exactly companies
go for green marketing and which target group is most influenced by it. It also studies the
behavioural pattern of green consumption. The paper concluded that the concept was still in its
infancy and a lot of reformation is required to explore its full potential and for that industrial
buyers and suppliers need to stop emphasising on the negative factors of these environment
friendly products. The important question which went unanswered here is that, ‘ Is Green
Marketing an innovation or a necessity?
Research methodology
The data for this research paper has been collected through field (observational ) research. The
aim here was to understand not only customer’s viewpoint but also the seller’s perception and
to find a common ground between the same. The data is collected by both the methods i.e.
complete observer and complete participant. Also, secondary data is gathered so as to
understand what innovations are present, how they work and how some of them can be
implemented.

Findings
There is a lot of conflict in this sector as the goals of both the parties is at loggerheads and the
understanding of the same is nil. Customers want new and Retailers want to sell. The line which
connects these two is innovation which practically doesn’t exist.
A good customer experience is vital to the success of any retailer. Yet, only 35 percent of
companies undergoing digital transformations have studied customer evolution as a result of
technology's impact on their shopping behaviours -- down from 56 percent the year before.
The changing nature of retail means tech leaders have a unique opportunity to architect a new
tech-fuelled, customer-centred shopping experience, said Brian Solis, a principal analyst at
Altimeter Group. "The role of the CIO or the technology architect today is actually one of
innovation," he added. "And it's both innovation in terms of technology deployment but also
innovation in what that role is in defining the future of retail, or anything for that matter."

Using only light, Spacee out of Texas has developed a technology that transforms virtually any
2D or 3D surface into an interactive touch screen. At NRF 2018, Spacee was showcasing how
it worked with Walmart to create an end-cap for Nest products using only its technology and
plastic pieces that mimicked the shape of the actual Nest products. In high-theft categories like
consumer electronics, the faux end-caps can eliminate security concerns for retailers altogether
while providing end-consumers with a more enhanced experience that better showcases what
a product can do.

The driving force which is responsible for the lack of innovation is poor supply chain
management of most major players and the lack of motivation for them to improve it. Its
understandable that it can be rough, trying to keep up with new and ever-changing trends but
one at least needs to start. The two major players Croma and Reliance Digital have India’s two
most significant multinational conglomerates as their parent companies i.e. TATA Group and
Reliance Industries Pvt Ltd. They not only have the resources to finance these innovations but
also their Consumers’ trust and loyalty. These are the companies who should be the pioneers
of innovations but unfortunately lack behind.
Forget innovation, these companies are still stuck perfecting their merchandising layouts and
are failing to do so. If one looks up at the customer service reviews of either of them or even
the other players no one entity is a winner. The customers on the other hand are assumed to be
looking for discounts as an attraction point because that is what they have been conditioned to
do. Unless a need for innovation is created in this sector there will be no demand for it. But the
minute one of them starts they will have something which the whole sector doesn’t, an
experience.
Where there are concepts in use, where a person can have virtual place designed just like their
home to see how a piece of product looks at their homes, these guys still look for measurements
of their cabinets and demos of the products which is not only time consuming but also a waste
of a lot of resources. There can be inspiration corridors used where products from the inventory
are directly suggested as per the measurements given by the customers. There is hardly any
customisation for the customer where they can design their house at a place and get all they
need at the very same place. If customers are given that experience won’t they accept it? Wont
you?
The reason of course here is lack of technological advancement and poor logistical
infrastructure, but these companies can take a step to improve them. Instead of blindly investing
into expansion plans one can put it into R&D as to how some of the innovations can be
implemented. Its high time this sector realises that consumers today don’t want discounts.
Online portals like Amazon, Flipkart personal retail shops, brand showrooms, availability of
numerous big retailers and increasing disposable income have made discounts as a secondary
factor influencing purchase. First still remains the experience. Today every customer makes a
well-informed decision where they know what they want and where will they get it better. It’s
hard for brick and mortar style retailers to match up with the online pricing and they rarely do.
However why do you think a customer still visits a retail outlet when one is getting a better
price online? Isn’t that enough to derive that customer wants something more than a price.
They want an experience.

Conclusion
In an era in which everyone sells everything, retailers must work harder to differentiate
themselves from others. Retailers can no longer win on price or proximity. Instead, retailers
need to hearken back to their brand promise and uncover what differentiates them from others
selling the same goods. Technology will be key to assisting retailers with creating new,
meaningful ways for consumers to interact with the brand. The biggest issue holding back
retailers is not the availability of technologies, but instead the inability to understand and adopt
the ones that will further their brand ethos.
This gap between customer expectations and present market will always be there but one
should attempt to reduce it before it widens. The sector is still profiting well in terms of revenue
and maybe will continue to do so but sooner or later the need will heighten and there will be
no time left when a foreign entity who already has the kind of technology will come and take
away the market.
The infrastructure and logistics can also be improved upon as that is one of the major reasons
there are delays in deliveries and installations and DOA cases of the products. It’s difficult to
bring an innovation of this kind overnight but these companies can at the very least start. They
can improve upon their monotony of selling and make the whole process a little bit interesting
for not only the customer but also for their employees because as long as the sales executives
aren’t content with their positions and its importance nothing can move forward.

References
https://www.ibef.org/download/Consumer-Durables-Report-Apr-20181.pdf
https://www.insider-trends.com/top-50-innovations-in-retail/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/10-technologies-leading-digital-transformation-in-retail/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelleevans1/2018/01/18/new-technologies-that-will-change-
how-consumers-shop-in-store/#335076ea5fc9
Vijaya Laxmi, S., & Rao, S. (2015). Consumer Buying Behaviour for Electronic Products A
Study of select items. International Journal of Research and Computational Technology, 7(2),
1-7.
http://www.ijemr.net/DOC/AStudyOfConsumerBuyingBehaviorInOrganizedRetailSectorElec
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Retail Sector: Electronic Industry (Samsung Televisions). International Journal of
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http://www.ijemr.net/DOC/AStudyOfConsumerBuyingBehaviorInOrganizedRetailSectorElec
tronicIndustrySamsungTelevisions(401-406).pdf
Thakur, Mayukh. (2016). IMPACT OF GREEN MARKETING ON CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR IN MODERN WORLD – A CASE STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO RETAIL
AND CONSUMER DURABLES. International Journal of HIT Transaction on ECCN. 2. 77 -
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S